C (2:43)

Wow.

A (2:43)

Like the pricing here doesn't. Competition is taking market share from us. How do we differentiate this product in that region? And I loved it.

C (2:53)

So it wasn't even intentional very much. It was more just like, hey, I should probably figure out a way to make some money because I can't live without it. But also, that wasn't really the core goal. Tell me real quick, as an aside, philosophy, who's your favorite philosopher or favorite book or author in that space?

A (3:14)

You know, I read very, very old books, like at the very beginning of the Roman Empire and even before. Like my favorite book of all times is the Bible and the. And I like Epictetus, Marcus Aurelius, who was in charge of the Roman Empire and he was writing his journal. And this journal, the Meditations, is a wonderful book that I reread again and again.

C (3:41)

Yeah, that's. That's one of my favorites as well. I like, I like Marcelius a lot because of the fact that he was also the Roman emperor. Like he wasn't just somebody who is sitting around thinking. You know what I mean? Like, I find it to be more useful sometimes when you can take. Take the words of a philosopher who's also doing a bunch of stuff and not just thinking about how the world should work, not just thinking about. And while that has its place and that's very useful in. In a different context, I've also. I've also found it really helpful to be like those Marcus Aurelius type char who are actively doing a lot of amazing things in the world and actively thinking about what it means to be a good, you know, a good person, a good man, and. And what it means to live to lead a good life as well. So that, that's just a selfish question. Just because I like reading about that stuff sometimes. Okay, so first job, get into strategy consulting gig. Realize that it's something that you actually enjoy. What about it? What about it really caught your eye? What about it was enjoyable to you? The thinking, the strategy, the flying around, going different places. What exactly enchanted you about that?

A (4:50)

Learning. Being with the give me the biggest problem and a team of the smartest people that we can find. And I'm happy. I'm happy when you give me a huge problem. And that's why books and learning, that's my thing. And so I became in love with problem solving. Give me a bigger problem. What's the biggest problem that you have? Guys. And they would Always say something around, go to market. We have to gain more market share in this region. And so I became an expert in that because I was solving these problems with them. And at some point I had hundreds of spreadsheets that would work in different industries in different situations. And I was like, hey, I have a toolbox here that can. Can help many people. And so I went on my own. I started Strategy Sprints. And I said, we have to distribute these things. We have to share this with people. It became a book, Strategy Sprints, how to Run a Business in an Agile Way. Because I saw things not working, and when solving those problems, the things that would repeatedly work, they became a tool. And so I had a huge tool. We started Sprint University. The book. The book hit it. It. After coming out in English, it came out in Chinese and then Japan and then Russian and then Japanese. So I knew, okay, something is working here. And. And we started group coachings. And so now we don't have just one on one coaching, but also group coachings and a community and our own app with 250 people in there that are right now asking money questions. So they are asking, how do I improve my marketing? How do I improve my sales? Half of them is building their money basis and the other half, which is long enough in there, made a ton of money and is now asking how to keep money questions. Yeah, yeah. And I realized it on my own. It's a very different skill to learn how to make money. You learn sales and marketing, but then it's a very different skill to actually keep that money. You have to learn about investing and how to be your own little family office. Yeah. And nobody learns that.

C (7:04)

Yeah, that's right. There's a. There's that. I think it's Professor Galloway, Scott Galloway, who said, you know, the definition of wealth is really just the delta between what you earn and what you keep, or something like that. Rather, he was just talking about how he's like, man, I have friends in management consulting and some of these amazing, you know, types of roles that people would kill for. They make, you know, $1.5 to $2 million a year in income, but their expenses are $1.5 to $2,000,000 a year. You know what I mean? Like, they. They find ways to have lifestyle creep, you know, continue to decimate the money that they're making. And it's like, well, somebody who's making 150k and investing 50k is actually more wealthy than the person who's making 1.5 and investing none of it and spending all of it on, you know, wine and their seventh vehicle and their third vacation home. So those two things are definitely different skill sets. Talk to me more a little bit about strategy sprints. First of all, can you define agile? What is that? We hear this term thrown around like agile manufacturing, lean manufacturing, agile engineering, agile, you know, software in the context of building software. Tell me, tell me what, how you would define this term through the concept of building your business.

A (8:19)

Can you, can you turn direction quickly or not? So if there is a tweet by a certain orange person and it says your supply chain costs are going up by 15%, can you change your contractors in two days, seven days, that's agile. 20 days maybe that's on the brink. And above 30 days is probably rigid. It's probably too late now. You had a month with higher costs than you want to have. So agile is really, can you organize yourself that you can quickly use opportunities but also quickly change direction when you have to change it?

C (9:01)

How difficult have you found that in, in terms of company sizes that you work with? I would assume that the smallest companies are probably much easier to implement some sort of an agile approach.

A (9:17)

Whereas there is small rigid teams and there is large, very agile teams. Like Amazon is huge, but it's pretty agile really. Yeah. And there is in your neighborhood a few, a few companies that decide too slowly.

C (9:37)

So is it a top down thing? It's a leadership thing.

A (9:40)

It's how you organize yourself. So do you have swim lanes where people can decide bigger things or do you start blocking yourself by doing other things? So right now in the sprint club, 250 people right today, what were their questions today? One is do I really need to change my offer now that the AI is here? And AI can partially do that. What I do. So for example, if they have marketing offers, they go, well, I think AI can write emails, so I was their copywriter, but I think AI can write their copy now. So how quickly can I change? Those are some questions that they were asking today. And what do I change? Do I just change the pricing? Do I change the offer? What's the process for building a better offer? And then I pull it from somewhere because 274 tools. And so I pull the offer tool. I say hey, do this and in 20 minutes you have a first draft of a better offer and then you go and test it. And then they tag me again in the sprint club. Like I'm like Jarvis and they're Ironman and, and I try to, to be as available as possible because otherwise I Slow them down. Right. If they have to wait like a week before they can ask me something, I'm slowing them down.

C (11:00)

That's the constraint. Yeah.

A (11:02)

So how can I contribute to them being being agile and nimble? I'm available. They can tag me. It's on their phone. It's our own app, the Strategies Prince app. And then they tag me to say, simon, I think I have to change my offer because I'm hearing no, I'm hearing price pushback. Something is not right here. What's. What's the next process here? And then I pull it and I say, go, go to the section pricing. Take module to do this. And then in 20 minutes, share your first draft. Then I give you feedback, and then a few hours later, they have the next offer.

C (11:39)

So, Simon, you are a podcaster, you are an author, you're a speaker, you're a strategist, consultant. What do you enjoy the most out of all of the things that you do?

A (11:51)

Good question. I like a day where in the morning I want to do my workouts. I do something either Ro.

B (11:59)

This episode is brought to you by Indeed. Stop waiting around for the perfect candidate. Instead, use Indeed sponsored jobs to find the right people with the right skills fast. It's a simple way to make sure your listing is the first candidate. C. According to Indeed data, sponsored jobs have four times more applicants than non sponsored jobs. So go build your dream team today with Indeed. Get a $75 sponsored job credit at Indeed.com podcast terms and conditions, applying or

A (12:28)

other forms of work. I want an hour of intense workout. Then I want to play with my kids. Now, they wake up. They wake up around 6, 6:30. I have three kids, so now I want to play with them. And then in the morning, I have very deep, deep work. I'm thinking something, I'm writing something, I'm recording something. I just wrote the second book Time Freedom with Jay Abraham. So in the morning, I like to write, read, and think and record. In the afternoon. In the afternoon, I like things that are more extroverted than with other people, like being on a podcast, like solving a problem with my team, with other teams, coaching executive teams, and. And then in the evening, it's time with my dearest one, with. With my wife, with my friends, with my kids. That's overall, that's what makes me happy. Right? That's an ideal day. And I'm blessed that this is how my days look, because that's exactly what I would do if I was a billionaire. This would be my day.

C (13:37)

Well, we're touching on something that is sort of one of the big driving points behind the podcast, which is that we sign off every show and you'll hear me say it at the end of this one, that by saying money only solves money problems, but it's typically easier to solve the rest of problems when you have money in the bank. So let's try to solve that problem first type of thing. That's sort of the driving force behind the show. And that what you just said is, to me, that's the solve. The solve is not necessarily having the most money in my bank account that I possibly can get. The solve is structuring my day in a way that is engineered thoughtfully by how I want to live my life. You know what I mean? It's like the money sort of takes care of itself at that point. But the great case scenario is that you get to wake up every day and go throughout your life the way that you are directing your life to go. Not because you have to do these seven things, because you have to do this thing for your boss and you have to make this much money to put your kids in this program or whatever. It's just being. It's the money is the vehicle that allows you to have the autonomy, the optionality to choose what your day to day looks like. And I mean, that's, that's the biggest win that you could ask for.

A (14:54)

I think I start with how do I want to experience a day? So how do I want to live? And I have money systems running and I built them once and they keep giving. So in the Sprint Club, we share 12 money systems actually, and I have five, six of them running at all times, some very active and some more passive. So money system one is consulting, right? Somebody asks you to solve a problem with them, you charge a retainer or for a package. So that's one of my money system, the most active one. I don't do much of that anymore because I have now colleagues and they do that. The second one is cohorts groups. So I run groups which scales my time, right? I can help 20 people in an hour. The second money system, the third one is licensing because, for example, the manuscript of the second book, we already sold the licensing rights to Japan. It's not even out in English yet. It will come out in March. But we have already a licensing deal. And so we teach also how you can turn your expertise into a licensing deal, which is pretty passive. It's just the act of having them sign a paper and that's it. Now they translate the book, sell the book and enjoy it. Yeah, I do nothing. So licensing it's is the one manual. Then the next money system is royalties because the books give you royalties. That's pretty passive. After you wrote the book. Writing it is very active. Then the next decade is passive and then the next money system is paid newsletter. So most people think that they have to pay for marketing. Not only you don't have to pay for marketing. I never pay for marketing. But also I want to get paid for marketing. So like you do this podcast and you have a sponsor. I write two small newsletters but they are paid. People pay $600 a year to get that newsletter.

C (17:13)

Wow.

A (17:14)

And it seems to be valuable for them. Right. So I've read about stocks, how to valuate stocks like right now, this week. It's about which software companies will survive and which won't survive. AI and so for that piece of equity research, there is some large funds in the US that use this. It's basically their work. Right. And paying $600 they get paid 130k as a junior analyst in these funds and I'm basically doing their work. They probably paste it, copy pasted it, put it into a report and they've done the work for the week. Because I've been analyzing Palantir and Servicenow this week and I guess that's what they're giving their boss.

C (17:57)

Yeah.

A (17:57)

And it's fine. Right? It's win win.

C (17:59)

Yeah, absolutely. That's the very definition of a win win.

A (18:04)

Yes. So even if you have a tiny newsletter and you're the first paid subscriber was at at 60. 60 subscribers. I turned it the pay button on because why not? I said worst case, nobody buys it. But I'm doing the same amount of work. And so you don't need much more than 60 subscribers to start monetizing that. So that's paid newsletter is the next money system. The next one is selling options I'm selling every day. A few puts and a few put spreads, which is a very limited risk.

B (18:38)

Get in the game with the college branded Venmo debit card. Rep your team with every tap and earn up to 5% cash back with Venmo Stash a new rewards program from Venmo. No monthly fee, no minimum balance. Just school pride and spending power. Get in the game and sign up for the Venmo debit card@venmo.com collegecard the Venmo MasterCard is issued by the Vanccorp Bank NA Select Schools available Venmo Stash terms and exclusions apply at venmo me stashterms max $100 cash back per month.

A (19:08)

My day kicks off with a refreshing Celsius energy drink. Then straight to the gym, pre K pickup back home to meal prep. Time for my fire station shift. One more Celsius. Gotta keep the lights on when the three alarm hits. I'm ready. Celsius Live Fit. Go grab a cold refreshing Celsius at your local retailer or locate now@celsius.com

C (19:30)

people

A (19:30)

think selling option is risky. It's actually the opposite. It's a very low risk. At least these two strategies that I do are very low risk. They make 49% and so I started a public portfolio in the Sprint club where I share every day my own trading. We started with 25k last January, now it's February one year later and that public portfolio is 170k. So that's the options income. Then we have compounding income which is stock picking and just holding them forever like Charlie Munger and Warren Buffett. And here we learn valuation and fundamental analysis. And then there is sponsors like you are doing. There is products like Mr. Beast is doing. He has an audience and now he plugs some chocolate in there, puts his name on it and he has a product or my client Ali, who has also a big audience on YouTube and he's about productivity. And so now he creates this productivity journals, physical journals and they sell well and they create an additional income streams just from his current expertise. That's what he's talking about on his YouTube channel. But he just turned another monetization system on top of it and, and another one is rent. Having real estate that, that pays you, which is really passive.

C (20:58)

Yeah.

A (20:58)

And those are 12 money systems. And I have five, six of them going on all the time. And I make sure with my clients. That's why we work for, for a year together usually because when they come they have one or two of them on. We optimize that and then we add a few more. We want to have them 5 to 7 on at all times. Because now you're resilient.

C (21:22)

Yeah. You have diversification of income and then diversification of the wealth portfolio as well.

A (21:28)

Yeah. And so stuff can happen. You still keep rolling.

C (21:33)

Real quick, Simon. I know we're coming up on time here. Real quick. Tell me a little bit about the health side of things. You're a triathlete. I mean it's one thing to just be like, yeah, you know, I get in my, my 30 minute walk or I Go to the gym. You know, I try to stay healthy. It's a whole nother thing to basically be essentially an entrepreneur, athlete, really. Tell me what, what role that plays in your professional life.

A (21:57)

I'm the slowest in the rowing club. I am, I am not the most. The strongest in the weightlifting section. But I like it. I like it. I have this body for probably, I don't know, 100 years in total. I'm 45. So I want to write this thing. I want to shred this thing. It feels better. A day feels so much better when I started with a workout and with a coffee and it gets me going. And, you know, I'm 45, so I have to do it just to keep a body without pain and without this and that. So I just want to stay 40 as long as possible. That's why I work out every day.

C (22:40)

Love it. Simon, I appreciate you taking the time to come on the show. There's a wealth of knowledge that you shared in a very, very period of time. So if somebody wants to go get a lot more of that from you, where can they go?

A (22:52)

We hang out@strategy sprints.com and all our stuff. People can try for free for seven days so that they can join the Sprint club and hang out with us and see my options trading, ask me marketing questions, sales questions, that's on their phone. I can be jarvis for them for seven days for free. And then if they like it and they hang out and they make friends there and they have a positive roi, then many of them, they then also want to join our weekly group coachings where we go deeper. And some of them then they say, okay, I want my whole team on this. I want one on one strategy Sprints. And then we can go one on one too.

C (23:30)

Strategysprints.com, also the podcast, also the book and then the new book that's coming out probably right around the time this episode drops. So let's talk about that real quick before I let you go. So what's the new book where people get it? What's the main takeaway that you're trying

A (23:45)

to get across Time Freedom is a book that I co wrote with Jay Abraham. You might be familiar with Jay.

C (23:53)

Yeah, he's been on the show.

A (23:55)

Amazing. Congrats. And so his power tools, the preeminence, the power partner, all these amazing tools that he has built, we brought them together with my tools. And each, it's called Time Freedom. And each chapter helps you solve the problem that you wanted Freedom in the first place. You started a company, but now you are in a rat race. You're working all the time and you don't have more freedom. Actually you have just a huge job. So how do you get out of this? Each chapter helps you. So the first three chapters, they help you simplify. So it's how you can cut tasks off your to do list. Yeah. And actually get more done. So simplifying the business to the few things that really matter. The next four chapters, they are about multiplying. So you're good at consulting. Okay. How can you add cohorts? You have a book. How can you translate the book in different languages? You have a course. How can the course become a certifications of multiply? And then the last bits, they are about compounding, like investing and really building not just horses, but assets that compound over time and keep working when you do something else.

C (25:17)

So strategy sprints.com, the book strategy Sprints as well as Time Freedom, which was co written by Jay Abraham, who's a legend in the space as well. Go check out some of the stuff that Simon is working on. Simon, I genuinely do appreciate the time. I know you're a busy guy. Don't take that for granted. Everybody else listening. Remember, money only solves your money problems. But it's easy to solve the rest of your problems when you got money in the bank. So let's start there. Here on the Travis Makes Money podcast. Thanks for tuning in. Catch you guys next time. So.